Sports

With a year of experience, Bosh wants to be effective; Raptors captain hopes to be a force in playoffs 0

Chris Bosh has already reached all-star status in his young NBA career. But the Toronto Raptors forward knows to be considered a superstar in this league, you must be able to shine under the sizzling lights of the post-season.

Bosh and the Raptors practised one last time at home Friday before heading to Orlando, where they'll face the Magic Sunday (TSN, 12:30 p.m) in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

"I think everybody wants to be a bigtime player, and to do that, you have to do it in the playoffs," Bosh said. "The regular season is cool, but now is when everybody is watching. I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't, that it didn't really matter to me.

"I want to be effective, I want to do the same things I do during the season in the playoffs."

That didn't happen for Bosh last season. The 24-year-old admits he wasn't prepared for the intensity of the playoffs last year - his first experience with the pressure-cooker of the "second season."

After averaging 22.6 points a night during the regular season, his scoring dropped off by five points a game during the playoffs. In the Nets' Game 3 rout in New Jersey, Bosh was held to just 11 points, flustered by New Jersey's suffocating defence.

"We weren't really ready to know what to face, we didn't know what they were going to do, we didn't know what kind of schemes they were going to take, and we didn't know how intense it was going to be," Bosh said after Friday's practice at the Air Canada Centre.

"I couldn't stay one step ahead of (the Nets), they had the upper hand on me the whole time," he added.

Despite having home-court advantage last season, the Raptors lost their opening game against New Jersey in the first post-season appearance in five years - done in perhaps by playoff inexperience against an older Nets squad led by grizzled veteran Jason Kidd.

The Raptors insist they'll be ready when the ball's tossed up Sunday.

"I think this time I'm mature enough, and the team is mature enough to where we can deliver the blow," Bosh said. "Once things get going, things are going to get tough, but if you create the initial reaction, things will always work in your favour."

While the Raptors have seen little in playoff action - Rasho Nesterovic is the runaway leader with 59 appearances - the Orlando Magic don't exactly boast a jam-packed post-season portfolio.

All-star forward Dwight Howard made his playoff debut last year, and the Magic was dispatched in four straight by Detroit in the opening round.

"Experience helps," said Raptors swingman Anthony Parker. "Its not a situation where we're just kind of going in waiting to see what happens, because we know what to expect."

A year after capturing the Atlantic Division banner, the Raptors finished this regular-season 41-41, limping in with just nine wins over their final 26 games.